HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Lady Crusaders took care of business Saturday afternoon as they took down local rivals the University of Mobile 3-0 at Danny Owens Field.
 
"I thought we played really well today from start to finish." Said a happy Danny Owens. "We showed a great balance of patience and offensive pressure. I think we left goals out there today but overall it was a good day at the office."

The Crusaders dominated the first half from start to finish. The Rams were rarely able to get out of their own half due to the excellent Carey press.
 
Karen Vilau nearly scored two identical goals in the opening 13 minutes, both of which would have been candidates for Goal of the Season. Two Boo Mills corners was cleared to the edge of the box, the first of which was met by Vilau on the volley as she sent her shot dipping on to the underside of the crossbar and unfortunately couldn't be turned goalwards by Livia Pertl. The second corner bounced out to Vilau who met this one on the half-volley, and yet again, rattled the underside of the crossbar and the Crusaders couldn't find a way to finish the rebound.
 
Carey had several shots in the opening of the game but a resilient Rams defense remained strong, highlighted by a few big saves from Sarah Polk in the Mobile net.
 
Despite Carey's early dominance, Mobile were nearly gifted the go-ahead goal thanks to some lackadaisical passing. Carey gave the ball away to Natalie Burt on top of the WCU penalty area. Burt took a touch and fired her shot straight at Nerea Pallas Padilla, ensuring Carey's errant possession didn't get punished.
 
Lauren Entremont finally broke the deadlock in the 26^th minute, ensuring Carey's dominance didn't go to waste. Another inswinging Boo Mills corner dropped in the middle of the six-yard box, causing chaos between both teams. Pertl managed to knock the ball across through a sea of bodies to Entremont who prodded home for the game's opener.
 
The Lady Crusaders kept up their pressure and dominance of the game as they continued to pepper the Rams goal. Carey got a deserved second goal thanks to Maddie Davis sending WCU into the break with a two-goal lead. Mills found Davis a way out from goal. Davis took a touch out her feet before releasing her shot into the back post that just made it beyond Polk and into the Ram net via the post.
 
The game stayed at 2-0 for a while, but not for the lack of trying. Virginia Mesa nearly added Carey's third within 1 minute of the restart as she saw her effort from range well saved from Polk. Alessia Navarro saw two of her shots saved in the space of two minutes. Her first effort from point-blank as she was played through on goal and her second from range after the ball had been cut back to her on the edge of the box.
 
WCU put the game to bed in the 69^th minute after Raquel Diaz nodded home. Navarro's cross from the right-hand side was played at the perfect height for Diaz to run between two defenders and flick the ball home with minimal effort.
 
The rest of the game fizzled out without much to write home about as if both teams had accepted the current scoreline. Both teams still went in search of goals but lacked the intensity they had brought to the start of the game.
 
WCU are back in action on Thursday, October 16^th as they host Life University at Danny Owens Field. That game is scheduled for a 5 PM kick off.